For close to a decade we’ve been telling you about the saga of Saint Boniface Church in Noble Square. Completed in 1904, shuttered in 1990, since then it’s watched both its convent and school fall to the wrecking ball. Over the years, there has been lots of talk about turning the building into something more than it currently is, and in the last few years that notion gained steam with Stas Development’s plan to turn...

It’s with no small tug of sadness that we watch so many of Chicago’s historic churches shut down, their buildings transformed from cornerstones of the community into abandoned objects of fascination. Some like Saint Dominic’s in Cabrini Green meet with a wrecking ball and are erased from the cityscape. But others are luckier, in some measure. They get repurposed. Such is the case for Saint Boniface Church at 1358...

Hardly a month goes by that plans don’t surface for one, two, or even three of Chicago’s shuttered churches or synagogues to be converted into new condos or apartments. The latest name to add to the list: Saint Boniface at 1348 West Chestnut Street in Noble Square. It was a close call, too. Preservation groups raised the alarm way back in 2002 that the church, with its pairs of towers facing south and west, would meet...